WELCOME TO ORIENTATION CLASS

SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION TO OLD

TESTAMENT
• IF ANY OF YOU LACKS
WISDOM HE SHOULD
ASK GOD WHO GIVES
GENEROUSLY TO ALL
WITHOUT FINDING
FAULT AND IT WILL BE
GIVEN TO YOU
• JAMES 1:5
• We are special people called
by GOD for a Special
Purpose
What is Bible?
 What is Bible?
• The word Bible comes from the Greek word “
Ta Biblia,” which means the “books.”

• Biblia is the plural form of biblion which

denotes any written document.

• From second century CE onwards the scripture

called “ta Biblia.”
 What is Bible?

• The Church Father John Chrysostom

used “ta Biblia,” for the first time.
• In English, the name Bible signifies the
entire collection of sacred books as it is
the “Library of divine revelation.”
 What is Bible?
• Bible divided into two Testaments- Old and
New.

• The word “Testament,” comes from Latin

word “testamentum,” which means covenant.
• Some Christians regard the Bible as the
“inspired word of God.”
Bible and its content
There are 39 books in the Old Testament

• Genesis • Joshua
• Exodus • Judges
• Leviticus • Ruth
• 1 Samuel
• Numbers • 2 Samuel
• Deuteronomy
• 1 Kings • Nehemiah
• 2 Kings • Esther
• 1 Chronicles • Job
• Psalms
• 2 Chronicles • Proverbs
• Ezra
• Ecclesiastes
• Song of Solom
on • Ezekiel
• Isaiah • Daniel
• Hosea
• Jeremiah • Joel
• Lamentations • Amos
• Obadiah
• Zephaniah
• Jonah
• Haggai
• Micah • Zechariah
• Nahum • Malachi
• Habakkuk
• Activity: 1 Learning the
books of the Old Testament
by playing fruit salad.
Activity: 2 Learn the spelling of the books
•G_ NE_IS
•CHRO_ICL_S
•_ZRA
•P_AL_S
•IS_IA_
• E_ _LES_ASTES
• H_BUK_U_
• J_N_H
• _ECH_R_AH
• MALA_HI
 Class Test

• The word Bible comes from ________

word which means _______

• Biblia is the plural form of ________

• From ______ BCE onwards Scripture

was called “Ta Biblia.”
 Class Test

• Who term the term “ta Biblia” for

the first time.
• The Word testament comes from
the ________ word.
• Write down the first twenty books
of the Old Testament.
Activity
 Who wrote Bible?

• Bible is a collection of writings.

God uses people to write down the

words of the Bible.
 Who wrote Bible?

• The writers communicated what

God revealed to them.

• Different books were revealed

differently.
 Who wrote Bible?

• Bible written in different times and

was written by 40 different authors.

• It was written by different authors but

inspired by the Holy Spirit (2
Timothy:3:16, 2 Peter:1:20-21)
 Languages

• Bible was written in three languages-

Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
• Most of the Old Testament books were
written in Hebrew languages.
• The word Hebrew derived from the
word “Ibri,”which means “one from
beyond.”
 Activity

____________ is a collection of
writings.

_______uses people to write down the

words of the Bible.
 Activity

• Bible written in different times and

was written by___________

• It was written by different authors

but inspired by _____________(2
Timothy:3:16, 2 Peter:1:20-21)
 Activity
• Bible was written in __________
languages.
• Most of the Old Testament books were
written in _________.
• The word Hebrew derived from the
word ________which means _________
 Specialities of Hebrew
languages
• Hb languages written from right to
left.
• Jews believed that Hebrew is the
language of God.
 Origin and contents

• The thirty nine books

constituting OT as used by
Protestants may be divided in to
three groups.
 Origin and contents
• Genesis to Esther give an account of
Israel’s historical development.
• Job to Song of Solomon are classified as
wisdom literature and poetry.
• Remaining 17 books record the messages
of the prophets who arose in Israel from
time to time to declare God’s word.
 Origin and contents

• According to internal evidence, OT

was written during a period of
approximately a thousand years
(1400- 400 BCE).
What is Old Testament

• Old Testament is a collection of

writings that was first compiled
and preserved as the sacred
books of the Jewish people.
 What is Old Testament

• Old Testament is also called as

Hebrew scriptures, Hebrew Bible
or as TANAK (TANAK is the
acronym for Torah and Nebim and
Ketubim).
• According to Collins Bible
Dictionary, the collection of Books
comprising the Sacred Scriptures
of the Hebrews and essentially
recording the history of Hebrew
people as the chosen people of God,
the first part of the Christian Bible.
 Fill in the blanks

• 1. __________ is a collection of
writings that was first compiled
and preserved as the sacred books.
• 2. which is preserved as the sacred
books Jewish people?
• 3. what is the acronym for TANAK
 Divisions of the
Hebrew Bible
• There are two kinds of divisions for
the Hebrew Bible.
• 1. The Hebrew division and
• 2. English Division
 Hebrew Divisions

• Hebrew Bible is also called TANAK.

• There are 24 books in Hebrew divisions
of the Old Testament.
• Some books are combined as one book.
• for example 1 and 2 Samuel as Samuel.
• 1 and 2 Kings as Kings.
 English Divisions

• The first five books of the Bible is

called Pentateuch. It is called as
Law.
• Joshua to Esther is called historical
Books which gives the history of
Israel.
 English Divisions

• Poetry Books include wisdom

books and poetic books.

• Prophets are divided into Major

and Minor prophets.
 Answer the following

• What are the divisions of the

Hebrew Bible?
• How many books does Hebrew Bible
contain?
 Answer the Following

• The first five books of the Old

testament is called_________
• What are historical books?
• Prophets are divided into __________
 why should we read
Bible?
• 1. The Bible is incomplete without the Old
Testament.
• 2. The Old Testament presents great truths
about God and humanity.
• 3. The Old Testament provides the historical
setting out of which Christianity and New
Testament emerged.
• 4. Old Testament lays the
foundation for Biblical prophecy.

• 5. OT brings out the religious and

spiritual significance.
• 6. It also brings historical and
cultural understanding.
Introduction to
Pentateuch
• The first five book of the Bible- Pentateuch.

• Pentateuch- Greek words πεντά (penta) and

τευχος (teukos).

• πεντά- ‘five’ τευχος - “a tool,” “scroll” or “roll”

• Hebrew -“Torah,”- ‘direction,’ ‘instruction,’ and

later on it came to known as ‘law.’
 AUTHORSHIP OF
PENTATEUCH
• The Pentateuch- role of Moses (Ex. 24:4; 34:27; Deu.
31:9,24).

• Mosaic authorship-Talmud -the Mishnah - New

Testament (Lk: 24:27,44).

• Benedict Spinoza and Thomas Hobbes- Pentateuch-

Ezra, (Ezra 7:6).
Date of Pentateuch
 Date of Pentateuch

• Scholars situated patriarchal narratives

between 2000BCE and 1500BCE, the
exodus event between 1450 BCE and 1250
BCE and the invasion of the land of
Palestine around 1250BCE to 1200BCE.
 Date of Pentateuch
• Some scholars dated the Pentateuch as 13 th
century BCE.
• Many modern scholars regard Pentateuch
has written for long period written by
multiple authors.
• These scholars dated Pentateuch was written
in 10th century BCE to 5th century BCE.
 Content of Pentateuch

• The Torah begins with God’s

creation of the universe and
continues with the birth of the
nation of Israel, their exodus from
Egypt, and the delivery of the Torah
at historical Mount Sinai.
 Content of Pentateuch
• It concludes with Moses’ death, shortly
before the Israelites journey into the
promised land of Canaan.
• Specific teachings (religious
responsibilities and civic rules) are
interspersed throughout the narrative,
either directly or implicitly (the laws of
Passover celebration in Exodus 12 and 13).
• Bereshit (literally “In the beginning”)—Genesis
Shemot (literally “Names”)—Exodus (Éxodos,
“Exit”)
• Vayikra ( literally “And He called”)—Leviticus
(Leuitikon, “Relating to the Levites”)
• Bemidbar ( literally “In the desert [of]”)—
Numbers (Arithmoí, “Numbers”)
• Devarim ( literally “Things” or “Words”)—
Deuteronomy (Deuteronomion, “Second-Law”)
•Historical
Books
• In the Protestant Bible, twelve books are
commonly called the “historical books.”
• They tell stories of events occurring in
historical time and place.
• Most were written by different authors,
although each pair of books (1–2Sam, 1–
2Kgs, 1–2Chron) likely was written or
compiled by single authors.
• The historical books are arranged in a
rough chronological order, and they tell
the story of God’s dealings with his
people over many centuries.
 How were historical Books
written
• Even though we know them as the
“historical” books, they were not written
to tell “history for history’s sake.” Rather,
they were written to show how God
works in and through history, and any
serious consideration of these books must
keep such purposes in view.